Today's drive technologies have either limited or no vertical axis pitch control and/or horizontal axis steering capability. Drives with reasonable pitch and steering authority such as outboards and outdrives are limited to relatively small vessels because of the torque and horsepower restrictions of these drives. These existing drive designs are not practical for large vessels requiring higher output powerplants. There is therefore a need in the art for robust, vertical axis control drive technologies capable of reliably managing greater torque and horsepower along with a wide variety of vessel applications, spanning small, medium and large vessel installations. Equally as important is a need for dynamic horizontal axis authority. If integral to these new drive technologies, this feature would significantly advance vessel maneuverability and performance as defined by present day standards, particularly aboard medium and large vessels which, based on today's steerable drive products, are restricted to comparatively low-speed operations.
Accordingly, as disclosed in the present application and as described in U.S. provisional patents: Ser. Nos. 60/671,812 and 60/676,328, which are herein incorporated by reference, the drive system of the present invention solves the limitations of typical marine drives by providing a drive system that is mounted so to have freedom to articulate within a well or cavity formed in the hull of a vessel allowing its thrust vectors to be pitch and steer manipulated. The drive assemblies can be positioned anywhere in the hull, or hulls in the case of multi-hulled vessels, in order to complement particular vessel design features, performance objectives and/or mission requirements. More traditional placement examples being forward of or forward-adjacent to the transom, as typical of an “inboard” installation, and aft of or aft-adjacent to the transom for adaptation to outboard engines, outdrives and other similar on-transom installations. The drive system disclosed herein may be used with turbine engines, internal combustion engines or other suitable torque-generating means. The novel pitch articulating drive system design described below incorporates steering, powerplant flexibility including the ability to integrate with any quantity of engines, any type or make of engine, in different propulsion package configurations as positioned aboard a vessel. The drive system is also capable of scaling to handle all measure of marine engine power output and is engineered to integrate with a computer based active thrust vector control system, single or multiple-drive vessels, for both pitch (vertical axis), steer (horizontal axis) and differential thrust management. The novel drive system will accommodate various marine vessels, regardless of size and weight, with a robust, comparatively lightweight design that can be either scaled or configured to meet numerous installation requirements. Design elements and components of the described drive technologies, such as its 360 degree steering, can be adapted to existing marine outboard and outdrive products to greatly enhance their overall performance and capability.